How do Emergency Managers and Broadcast Meteorologists in Oklahoma and Texas use Fire Weather Products?: A Preliminary Study

During the spring of 2023, two large wildfires occurred in Oklahoma in or near populated areas. On 31 March, the “Simpson Road” fire occurred in the heavily populated area of the northern Oklahoma City metropolitan area. On 4 April, the “Route 66” fire occurred near the town of Weatherford. Both wildfires caused significant damage, but no fatalities. During these events, the Norman, OK National Weather Service forecast office initiated what is known as the “integrated warning team fire process” in which forecasters detected potentially dangerous fires via GOES-16 satellite imagery. Following the detections, forecasters worked alongside both the Oklahoma Forestry Service and local emergency management, who then requested that NWS Norman issue polygon-based Fire Warnings. These events highlighted that though NWS Norman had quickly and accurately detected the fires and coordinated the issuance of Fire Warnings, less is known about how the Fire Warnings (and fire weather products in general) are understood, communicated and used, particularly among other emergency managers and broadcast meteorologists. Hence, researchers developed surveys for both of these core partner groups to obtain a baseline knowledge of their understanding and use of fire weather information and products, operational procedures during fire weather conditions and ongoing fires, and how Fire Warnings were received and disseminated. Pilot surveys were sent out to emergency managers and broadcast meteorologists in Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle region with a goal of expanding the survey to the wider United States. This talk will discuss the background and need for this research and survey work.